A New Caffè Bellini

Disclaimer: We recently heard that Bellini has changed ownership, and thus the menu featured on this post is no longer relevant. Please read on to get a feel for the ambiance, but our opinions about the service and food are only applicable to the previously owned and managed restaurant.

A few weeks ago, we were graciously invited to preview the new menu and meet the new staff at Caffè Bellini, a long-time favorite location here in Lausanne. There were playful cocktails (made by an equally playful bartender), mouth-watering nibbles, and just a friendly and fun vibe. We asked the new manager, Jasmine Gfeller, to shed some light onto what makes the new Bellini so much better.

1. What’s the most exciting change about Bellini?

I would have to say the most exciting changes about Bellini would have to be the arrival of our new Italian Chefs: Alberto, Massimiliano and Nicola- they are from Cava and Solerno, Italy. They have changed the menu and flavors of Bellini and we have had a huge growth in popularity since the change. We also have a very exciting new cocktail list that changes with the seasons by our Mixologist Irma who is also Italian from Bitonto (also known as “the city of olives”), she’s extremely talented behind the bar and makes a killer cocktail.

2. If you could describe the new Bellini in three words, what would they be?

RETRO, YOUNG & FUN

3.Tell us a bit about yourself

I have a Canadian mother and a Swiss Father, I was born in Newfoundland, Canada but spent the first 3 years of my life in India due to my father’s job as a Civil Engineer. Our base was always Canada, but I grew up in India, Africa and Iran. At 17 I moved to Switzerland to take a year off after high school and to discover my roots. I have worked in restaurants since the age of 15 and it’s after my year in Lausanne that I decided to study my passion and do my degree at EHL. After graduating, I moved to England where I managed the F&B department at Malmaison Hotel in Reading, after that I moved to Toronto where I managed an Italian restaurant for a year, and then opened the Daniel Boulud Restaurant at The new Four Seasons hotel in 2012. I moved back to Switzerland in 2014 and worked at The Four Seasons Geneva before taking over the Bellini in January 2015. I am an absolute foodie to the core and with that comes my love of wines and everything tasty 🙂

4) You’re a world traveler, why Lausanne?

I moved here in 2014 for a boy of course 😉 . Lausanne for me is the perfect sized city, it has the beauty of being near the lake and is an hour from the mountains. I also find that it is becoming more and more trendy as the years pass. I don’t know if I’ll be here forever, but for now it’s home.

5) When you’re NOT at Bellini, where are you?

My absolute favorite place to be when I am not at work is A La Bosette. It’s conveniently just down the road from the Bellini hidden away on a pedestrian street. They have over 60 beers by the bottle, local art work hanging on the walls and the food is fantastic. By far the BEST BURGER in Lausanne, oh and service with a smile ;). I also like to go to L’Atelier which is on my street next to home; a very hipster crowd with warm and friendly service. In the summer month’s I love La Terrasse in Lutry, the owner Julien makes the bus ride worth it with his hillarious sense of humor and great cocktails.

6) What’s your current favorite dish on the new menu?

That’s a tough one, I’d have to say the Branzino or the Filet of Beef with a cognac and green peppercorn sauce. Chef Alberto is extremely talented with fish. Our pizza’s are awesome too though!!

7) You’ve had a long day, you saunter up to the Bellini Bar, what do you order?

After a long day people usually love to rock up and have one of our House Spritz Cocktails, my personal favorite is our Whiskey Sour though, we’ve been told it’s the best one in Lausanne.

A few extra things to note about the new Caffè Bellini:

MOVIE CLUB BELLINIEvery Tuesday they play a movie downstairs in the Hotel Bellini Cave- you can have a pizza and beer (or glass of wine) for 15chf with the movie- Movie starts at 21:00 but people usually come earlier to eat their pizza. You can see the movie schedule on the facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/movieclubBellini?fref=tsLIVE MUSIC

They are also going to start having live music nights at the Bellini – their first one will be on Thursday October 17th at 21:00 and the music will be jazz, folk, pop, rock.

CURATED WINE LIST

They have a very good Italian Wine list selected by our Sommelier and Assistant Manager René Ploner (also Italian), where you can find Barolo’s and Amarone’s at a reasonable price.

PRIVATE PARTY SPACE

They do a lot of big parties and events in their Hotel Bellini Cave–it can hold up to 70 people for Apéro Dinatoire’s and 40 people for a sit down meal and can be booked privately. Jasmine’s other Assistant Manager, Vera Giampietro, takes care of all the events and bookings.

Thank you so much Jasmine, and thank you to her wonderful staff who made us feel so welcome (and so cheerful and full!).

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6 Comments

Love the food, love the drinks, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the décor. Hate the volume of the music though. You cannot even hear your friends if they are on the other side of the table and shouting all night is boring and so 80's.

Hello 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to write your comment. In recent months we have made a huge change to the type of music played and the volume. Usually we do not turn the volume up until 22:00 and even so whenever a guest asks us to turn down the music we do, so please feel free to ask us next time. We also have extremely low ceilings which does not benefit us at all for the sounds and voices travelling around the place :(- Hope to see you soon and again just let us know if the music is bothering you 🙂